Page 80 of Cursed to Be Mine
After drying her hands on a towel, Mother pats Varius on the shoulder, then heads over to me. “You look a lot better,” she says. “How’re you feeling?”
The pain in my kidney is completely gone. “That better be due to Leno,” I say.
“My life is mine. I can spend it how I wish.” When I scowl, she smiles. “But yes, you can thank Leno for that.” Lowering her voice, she adds, “You keep an eye on these two. Make sure you all come back.”
Make sure Talon doesn’t do anything stupid.
Worry coats her tone. I don’t lie by saying we will be fine; we’re heading into the lion’s den, Varius wanting to meet Aleric on his turf so he can feel more at ease.
Although we are at peace, the temptation for him to take us all out at once will be strong. He won’t be ableto do it on his own, and his coven’s numbers have been greatly reduced, but he has an unknown amount of sired vampires. They might be gnats individually, but a horde of them can overwhelm us by sheer number.
“He won’t kill us,” Talon growls.
No, he won’t. He’ll kidnap us and torture us, bartering our lives for territory and business. He knows how much Mother loves her children, knows she will offer anything and everything to get us back even though she is not the head of this Family.
Leno will rule in Varius’ absence, being the second son, and he is a mama’s boy through and through.
“Let’s go,” Varius says in the monotone he always talks in. Fear lingers inside him, but he never shows it. Never gives his enemies a weakness to manipulate or any insight to use against him.
Family. Enemies. To him, we’re all the same, a lesson taught harshly many times over.
I lean in to kiss Mom on the cheek, then pivot on my heels and follow my brother out. Maddox leans on Varius’ car, a black Mercedes, his ankles crossed, a dumb driver’s cap on his head.
As we near, he takes the hat off and bows, then opens the back door with a flourish. “Hot and sexy chauffeur at your service.”
We both ignore him as we climb into the backseat. Talon joins us soon after, sitting in the passenger. Leno and the twins will most likely follow in their shadows. Rudy will stay with Mom and Micha – not that they need his protection. Micha is more than capable of doing that herself. Rudy just actually listens to Varius even when he doesn’t give an official order.
The car reverses down the drive, goes around the L-shape, then pulls forward off the paved track and ontothe private dirt road that connects us to our neighbors. As we drive to Vilano Beach, St. Augustine, Maddox sings along with the radio. Thank the gods, we only have to suffer it for twenty minutes. Screaming metal might be enjoyable when it’s not being howled by an idiot who tries to go as high-pitched as possible, but I wouldn’t know.
When we get within a block of our destination on the waterfront, Maddox switches off the radio. For all of his annoyance, he knows when to shut up.
Vampires step out of their million-dollar-plus houses as we pass the 1ststreet-Myrtle street intersection. They’re all wearing sunglasses, their eyes more sensitive than ours to the bright sunlight. Vampires, as well as werewolves, originally come from a world called Blódyrió, which never sees a sun. Its massive moon only offers as much light as a sunset on Earth, and the species born there have yet to evolve to tolerate the high sun. Long sleeves and pants are the staple every day of the year, though sunlight won’t kill them like they’ve let the humans believe, whispering long tales to authors and other societal members of influence.
What’s the best way to tell if someone’s a vampire? Put them in the sun or in front of a mirror or tell them to enter a house without an invitation. Oh, look at that, I’m clearly not a vampire, says the vampire.
Sired vampires are a different story though. Created by dark magic, they must give a price to balance out their rebirth. The sun at high noon will burn them into ash, but on cloudy days or when the sun’s at a lower angle, they’ll only suffer a bit of sunburn. They’re also never as strong as born vampires, can’t consume anything except blood, are infertile both sexually andmagically so they can’t sire, and they never develop the ability to phase.
Rolling down his window, letting in the ocean breeze, Maddox puts his arm out, but before he can raise a certain finger, Varius orders him to be on better behavior.Bestis not something Maddox can do.
He mumbles about sticks and asses, but wisely keeps his hand down, just letting it ride in the wind.
Turning off at the end of the road, he pulls onto a large brick driveway lined by trees. The door to the house opens as soon as he parks.
“Stay inside the car and don’t pick any fights,” Varius orders our youngest brother as he steps out of the black Mercedes.
Talon and I follow as Maddox sighs, “Yes, Father.”
He turns the car radio back on and starts blaring it as he whacks the wheel with his fingers and howls like an idiot.
Varius gives him one look, his face unchanged, and Maddox switches off the radio. Slumping in his seat, he waits for us to return.
My eyes scan constantly as we head for the open door. My magic pulses in my veins, coiling in readiness to strike. Aleric himself stands in the doorway, dressed in red surfer shorts and a white cotton T-shirt. His dark-gray eyes linger on Varius before shifting to Talon, then me. Then back to Varius.
I don’t like the focus in them, the lurking of something secret hiding within their depths.
But Aleric is over three hundred years old –the oldest soul I’ve ever met, though far from the oldest alive– and with age comes a look that is always unsettling. As if they already know what you’re going to do.
He steps back, leading us into a wide entrance hall that merges into an open plan living room. Sunlight fills the place through floor-to-ceiling windows. My eyes scan the room as my magic seeps through the house, noting the number of vampires inside.One.
